I have talked on here already about my shameless noodle hoarding, and the fact that we are able to "cheat" on the five dollar day plan by eating from our cupboards and freezer. So in defense of these behaviors Food Storage is a great way to save money in the long run. Most the food we eat lasts a long time. Sugar, Legumes, Lentils, Flour, Wheat... and more will last for years!
However, I do think at there is a point where this goes to far. What is that point? I'm not sure. At The Happiness Project, she warns against Overbuying, as well as under buying. I guess I'm looking for a happy medium.
A woman in Utah - has a business explaining how to save money by storing food. (She has some good "cheap" recipes too - so you can link to her blog in the far right side bar -including this one Lasagna Soup). Anyway, I was watching this video where she explains what, how and where to store your food...
To me this seems extraordinary, I mean setting aside the fact that she recommends 1 years worth of food storage (where does this come from?), some comments see to be a bit strange like 8lbs of salt/person? There is no way we consume that much salt in a year (or want to) - not to mention pineapples or ketchup. Also, I don't exactly have the space for this "years supply", and I live in a house... what about people living in 1 bedroom apartments or smaller spaces?
Do you guys store Food? How much? Do you have particular items that you always stock up on? (ahem.. like noodles?)
The one year supply of food is a Mormon thing, I think it's a personal responsibility deal- they also stress the importance of living within your means and having a stockpile of money. The salt comes from the higher than normal needs for people working outside in the sun, and also the additional salt required to preserve food through canning or salt curing.
ReplyDeleteI actually found the Utah Mormon food storage ladies quite useful when setting base "good" prices. Staples don't vary too much across the country, though I'm not willing (or able) at this point to buy whole feed grains and grind my own.
I like to have enough salt and oil, because they're tough to replace if there's a shortage, and they're cheap upfront. I used to stockpile canned tomatoes, canned and dry beans, and chocolate. I like having a month's worth of my favorite "fast" ingredients, and will probably start building up again next year sometime.
@j. - I had not thought of canning, that was an oversight on my part.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I agree with the concept of storing food, my mom did a lot of this growing up which helped out a bunch with our monthly budget. I guess I am just looking for some rational for supply volume, like a formula that I can agree with.
Thanks for your input!
I think if you ever get the opportunity to watch some of the old Great Depression footage (try your local library) you will start to understand 1 year food storage a bit better. People LITERALLY were starving during the Great Depression. I think (my opinion only), if you have children, you have a responsibility to make sure that if a rainy day ever comes, you have food for them. Anyone who has ever lived in a 2nd or 3rd World country knows that people go hungry all the time.
ReplyDeleteMy husband had parents that often were without work and he remembers lots of times when he was a little boy not having food to eat. Here. In America.
Anyway, that lady is doing it because of a religious thing... but I do it because food is cheap and in my travels I've seen too many hungry people. It may not happen here in the US, but then again, you never know what the future will bring.
There is just me and two cats in my household. I make sure I stockpile cat food (because how would you explain to them that you ran out of their munchies?), but I am not so good about stockpiling things for myself.
ReplyDeleteMy goal for this summer is to get a small freezer so that I can preserve some of the summer produce. That will make things healthier and tastier and cheaper next winter.
I don't consider it cheating to store food. It's sensible! Last year, when I was doing my $5/day diet, I froze a good amount of produce which was great because it really helped over the winter. I didn't store anything like a full year's worth of food though. Maybe several servings of fruits and/or vegetables each week. On the other hand, a single person living on $5/day is pretty easy to do so I was always able to buy more than I needed.
ReplyDeleteI have a year of the easy stuff - rice, pasta, dry beans, flour and 6 months of most other non perishables. I shop with coupons and when I find a good sale and a coupon to match to the sale I get 6 months worth. Why would I wait until I run out and pay $3.99 for a box of cereal when I can get it for 25 cents a box and stock up? You just never know when someone will loose their job and it makes me sleep better knowing I have this food to fall back on.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of Mormon families who do a full 2 years worth of food storage.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I keep 6-12 months of food in the house at any given time. You're right though - it can take some careful planning to store it all.